Women and Mobile Phone global study reveals that phone ownership can lead to increased income and opportunity

The GSM Association and the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, a charity that supports women entrepreneurs has published a report ‘Women and Mobile: A Global Opportunity’. 

This is the first detailed global study of its kind that attempts to understand the nature of women mobile subscribers in low and middle-income countries such as Kenya and India. 

Among the key findings, the report showed that:

• There are 300 million fewer female subscribers than male subscribers worldwide
• A woman in Africa is 23% less likely to own a phone than a man.
• Going forward, two thirds of potential new subscribers for mobile network operators will be women.
• Women in rural areas and lower income brackets stand to benefit the most from closing the gender gap.
• 93% of  women report feeling safer because of their mobile phone.
• 85% of women report feeling more independent because of their mobile phone
• 41% of women report having increased income and professional opportunities once they own a phone  
  

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